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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Injected the Wrong Way

"Because you have the cursed Jesuit strain in you, only it’s
injected the wrong way.” James Joyce – Ulysses.

James Joyce’s celebrated novel Ulysses opens with a tense early morning exchange between two
friends - Stephen Dedalus and Buck Mulligan.Dedalus is offended with Mulligan because on an earlier
occasion Dedalus heard Mulligan refer to Dedalus’ mother as “beastly dead.”
(1)Mulligan pushes back
criticizing Dedalus for refusing his mother’s request to pray with her at her
death bed.Mulligan, a young
doctor responds:

And what is death, he asked, your mother’s or yours or my
own?You saw only your mother
die.I see them pop off every day
in the Mater and Richmond and cut them into tripes in the dissecting room.It’s a beastly thing and nothing
else.It simply doesn’t
matter.You wouldn’t kneel down
and pray for your mother on her deathbed when she asked you.Why?Because you have the cursed Jesuit strain in you, only it’s
injected the wrong way.To me it’s
all a mockery and beastly.Her
cerebral lobes are not functioning…Humour her till it’s over. (2)

Mulligan doesn’t believe in God and prayer, but is fine with
humoring the wishes of one who does.Dedalus, on the other hand, can’t bring himself to pray, even at his dying
mother’s request.He won’t
compromise his belief in the non-existence of God.Mulligan’s reference to the “Jesuit strain” is a dig at
Dedalus’ education by Jesuit priests at Gonzaga College (a secondary school
Joyce also attended).The
implication is that even though Dedalus doesn’t believe in God, he acts in
other ways like one who does – and not just any believer – a Jesuit priest – a
member of an order known for their tenacious intellectual defense of theism.

Can one actually keep their beliefs or lack thereof private
as Buck Mulligan? One of our
greatest needs is for truth, to know why.The answer to that question is so precious that we will defend it
fiercely.Mulligan represents the cynic not
willing to fight for truth. However, it seems that many atheists are not willing, like
Buck Mulligan, to hold their worldview privately.

For example, there is outreach to encourage others to
embrace non-belief – look at the clergy project an attempt to reach out to
Christian ministers who no longer believe. (3)Community gatherings and celebration of shared worldview –
witness the Reason Rally in Washington D.C. last spring. (4) And, more
controversially, the suggestion of the need for atheism to create communal
contemplation spaces.Alain de
Botton plans to build such a structure in London. (5) De Botton’s plan has not
been welcomed by many atheists, but it could be argued that the ideas behind
the London building are found in the Clergy Project and the Reason Rally.

Another example is a lawsuit by American Atheists seeking to
prohibit a cross from ground zero being displayed at the 9/11 memorial yet to
be completed in New York City. (6) The arguments advanced in favor of
displaying the cross are that it was a symbol of comfort to many and is a
historical artifact related to 9/11.If this is a symbol of comfort, that atheists consider to be without
meaning, letting the matter lie without protect would be the Buck Mulligan
approach.Let them have their
crosses if it makes them happy.But, to kick up a storm about the 9/11 cross seems to open up atheism to
Joyce’s charge that they have the religious strain just injected the wrong way.

But, is this a bad thing?First, it shows that atheists care about finding truth, and
second, that they agree there is a truth out there to be found.Caring about the truth, and being
willing to go to great lengths to defend it is only bad if we base our
arguments on bad evidence and tie them together with faulty logic, or if we
abandon reasonable argument and try to make others accept our arguments through
force.

It is best for everyone to put their cards on the table to
put forward what they believe in a respectful manner.

I say let the truth win. Let the best arguments win out.Let’s approach with open minds, not afraid to confront
issues where we clash but with gentleness and respect as well.Let us also recognize that atheists
and theists alike are injected with the “Jesuit strain” – the search to find
and defend truth – there are worse things.

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About Me

Welcome to my blog. Here you will find a collection of essays, short stories and poems I've been working on. You can view posts by categories under Labels below.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, I now live in Buffalo, New York with my wife and three children. I am graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the Law School at the University of Buffalo.
I am also the author of "Why It Doesn't Matter What You Believe If It's Not True", a book that examines the tensions between post-modernism and international human rights law.